


Bad at Being Human

by GrifficScribbles



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Autistic Jonathan Byers, Billy Hargrove Speaks Spanish, Bisexual Nancy Wheeler, Bisexual Steve Harrington, F/F, F/M, Gay Billy Hargrove, Gay Jonathan Byers, Good Parent Joyce Byers, I REGRET NOTHING, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Italian Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers uses ASL, M/M, Multi, Rating May Change, Soccer Mom Steve Harrington, Tags May Change, What Have I Done, a whole stimmy boy, enjoy (:, honestly this is probably gonna get real chaotic, stoner Jonathan Byers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29917824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrifficScribbles/pseuds/GrifficScribbles
Summary: Jonathan Byers has always had trouble understanding people and vice versa. What happens when there are two people that he actually does understand and that understand him? Mostly. They each have a different second language that neither of the others understand, but at least Robin got her giggles.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Heather Holloway, Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Heather Holloway/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers & Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers & Will Byers, Jonathan Byers/Billy Hargrove, Jonathan Byers/Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway/Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler, some Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler
Kudos: 9
Collections: Fun with Cognates





	Bad at Being Human

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.  
> (:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan is anxious, but at least he has friends to make him less so during these first couple days of a new semester

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Straight up finished this at damn near 1 am, but I hope you like it  
> (3,051 words)

First day back. No big deal. Jonathan’s been doing this for years. And it’s the second half of the year. Even less of a deal. Just follow the Routine and it’ll be fine. Wake up at 6:30 and get breakfast started. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and orange slices. The fruits change with the seasons and sometimes he makes toast or omelettes instead of pancakes or scrambled eggs, but it’s not what he makes that really matters. What matters is making breakfast. His heart hurt when Will went missing and he couldn’t make breakfast or wake him up to eat.

When he’s about halfway through cooking, Will’s two pancakes and oranges cut, he turns down the hall to the door just to the right of his own. Knocking a couple times before quietly opening it and treading in. He gently shakes brother awake.

“Hey, breakfast is almost ready. 6:45, you gotta get up.”

Will groans the sleep out of his voice and rolls over to face his older brother. Prying his eyes apart as he smells the pancakes both in the house and on Jonathan, he sits up. Jon leaves to get started on his brother’s eggs, knowing they get cold the fastest.

He, then, whips up a couple more pancakes for himself and their mom. He scrambles an extra egg each, as usual because he knows she needs the extra energy. She’s also not a 13 year old boy and neither is he, much to his mother’s dismay.

They all sit down and eat together the way they always do, not just out of habit, but because they all genuinely enjoy having meals together. That’s something that not only didn’t change, but became more important to the Byers family after both encounters with interdimensional monsters. Sometimes they chat and others, they just sit together. It doesn’t really matter as long as they’re just that- together.

After breakfast, with dishes in the sink, Jonathan and Will go to get dressed for school so they can leave by 7:30. Joyce usually doesn’t leave for work until about 8:30, so she’s always able to relax for a bit.

The boys head out the door at 7:30, just like always. As Jonathan follows Will out, he turns his head to his mom, still at the table, and says, “Have a good day. Be home soon, be safe.”

Like always, she replies, “You too, be safe. I love you.”

He doesn’t need to say it back. The three of them know he has a hard time saying that. THat’s why he says “be safe”- it’s his own way of telling people that he cares about them.

On the car ride to the schools, Will asks to play the mixtape that Jonathan gave to him two years ago, now. Jonathan never says no to that one, so their ride to school is filled with The Clash, Bowie, The Doors, etc. The brothers unabashedly jam out to the first song on the tape, probably their favorite too,  _ Should I Stay or Should I Go  _ by The Clash. Will has always been more restrained in his movements, but Jonathan doesn’t hesitate to tap his hands on the steering wheel or rock his shoulders. It’s almost involuntary, just like the smile that plasters itself across his face.

The tape eventually moves on to play  _ Blitzkrieg Bop _ by Ramones, but it doesn’t stop either of them from bouncing along. There’s a reason Jonathan titled the mix  _ For When You are Happy _ . They continue like this until the car pulls into the parking lot between the schools and he turns off the car. The music definitely helped calm his nerves, ever-present as they are.

He and Will get out and share a quick goodbye, punctuated with Jonathan’s “be safe” before they head their separate ways. Jonathan has to take a deep breath- and ignore the punch of cigarettes in the air- to keep himself from falling too far back into his anxiety.

Tapping his thumb against his thigh, he meets up with Nancy not long after arriving. This always happens when Mondays and Fridays roll around. It wouldn’t be so bad if he actually, properly knew anyone in his homeroom, but no. He has to start both the day and the semester surrounded by people who are practically strangers.

Nancy knows this and walks him to his class and gives him a quick hug because she knows the pressure comforts him. When they part, she gives him a signed ‘I love you’, probably knowing words are gonna be hard today. She doesn’t know many signs, but she knows enough to comfort him. He raises his hand to his chin in a letter ‘b’ followed by making his hands into fists and crossing his arms at the wrist before splitting them apart- ‘be-safe.’

Nancy smiles and hugs him again before trotting across the hall for her own homeroom. Jonathan’s smile falters before he walks toward his desk to sit through 20 minutes of nothing.

He dashes out of the room as soon as the bell rings, telling him to go to Geometry. He’s much happier going to this class because he knows someone there. He and Steve may not sit next to each other, but just having the familiar presence in the room is enough to keep him calm enough to be able to speak if called on. Luckily, most know that he’s the quiet type, so that’s a pretty rare occurrence.

Then is home ec with a friend he met while doing a spread for the yearbook last year of the band. They always partner up and he enjoys watching her somehow still struggle, despite it being the second semester. They don’t know a whole lot about each other, but it’s still enough to be friends. He knows she speaks French and some other nonsense he can’t remember or distinguish and she knows he’s not great with social situations and uses sign language from time to time.

Neither of them have any idea what the other is saying when they use their other languages, but it’s honestly kind of funny. Especially when she glares at people for being rude about it. They’re comfortable with each other, though, so he doesn’t usually need to use signs with her.

Sure, they goof around a bit, but Robin knows he isn’t just taking this class as a filler. His mom needs all the help she can get after the sheer number of “incidents” they’ve had over the years.

The class always goes too fast for his liking, but at least he knows that’s the tell of enjoying a class. They part ways before lunch and he’s even taken to telling her to be safe, something he’d never expected to do with anyone he hadn’t fought monsters with. It’s.. nice.

He heads to the cafeteria for lunch with the only other two people he’s friends with and feels some of his tension leave with an exhale when Nancy greets him with a hug. They get to talking about Hamlet because Jonathan asks how English went. Sure, they’re in different classes, but he still likes to ask about what she’s learning. She always brightens when she gets to talk about that stuff.

He gives the rest of the room a once-over, just out of curiosity, before noticing a certain king neglecting his court. Not that that’s abnormal- just interesting. The rest of the day goes relatively similar to how it started. He doesn’t know anyone in any of his other classes for the day and it keeps him on edge.

Jonathan only begins to calm down when the final bell rings and he pulls around to Will’s school with Nancy in the passenger seat to go home, at last. The music helps a bit to keep the anxious part of his brain from shutting him down, but the addition of his brother and his girlfriend- probably his two favorite people- is what really keeps him grounded.

They seldom feel like listening to music after school, instead listening to Will talk about what he learned. Nancy holds his hand the whole drive home because he’s driving and hugging while driving is generally a bad idea and she knows Jonathan had an off day.

He doesn’t have a shift at the theatre until Wednesday, so he doesn’t have to eat in a rush or drive Nancy home right away. So the Byers family, with the addition of a Wheeler, cook dinner together and watch M.A.S.H. reruns until she actually does need to be driven home.

Later, when he’s finally managing to go to bed, Jonathan takes a deep breath because that’s how he always tries to end the day. Just breathe out whatever he’s still carrying and letting himself steadily unwind before he does it all again tomorrow.

Tuesday comes much like Monday had and Jonathan is perfectly content with that. Today, he decides to use the eggos that El had apparently insisted Hopper got them as a New Year’s gift. Waffles, apple slices, and he decides to mix things up and heat some Canadian bacon in a pan- something they all seem to appreciate. 

It’s still only January, so he tries to just make hot foods so that they’re ready for the midwestern chill. He and Will leave, as usual, but they just listen to the radio today. As long as there's music, they’re fine.

“See you after school, be safe,” he calls to Will as they separate and he goes to greet Nancy. He’s less anxious today because it’s not the first day back anymore, so that pressure is relieved. His Biology class is as chaotic as ever, with his teacher being asked by one of the students to not describe blood types as “flavors” which he doesn’t really see the issue with. It’s honestly kind of funny to him.

After that, he suffers through gym and is silently thankful he only has to finish this year and will never have to take it again. Showering is probably the worst part of gym, but they’re teenage boys, so it would be worse if they didn’t. Nobody likes the smell of “post-gym teen”- especially not Jonathan. It’s just one of those things that makes his brain short out.

He finally makes it to lunch and goes directly to the spot where he and his band friend from home ec, Robin, meet up every Tuesday and Thursday to say hi because they don’t have any classes together. He waits for her, even though she never takes this long. He waits until he can’t bear to and just goes to the cafeteria to have lunch with Nancy and Steve.

He tries- and probably fails- to keep the laughter out of his voice when he asks Steve how he always manages to forget his food.

“Just move too quickly in the mornings, I forget to grab it.”

They all know that there’s probably more to it than that, but nobody presses it. They prefer to joke and keep things light, saving the darkness for when they have to save the world...again. He slides Steve some of his own lunch with a smile. He always packs a bit extra in case Steve forgot or if he or Will needs a snack on the way home.

Steve doesn’t seem to be super interested in conversation, so he and Nancy just start talking about whatever Jonathan tells her about what happened in bio and she seems to get a kick out of it. Eventually, they fall into comfortable silence, occasionally laughing at something they hear from another table. Especially when Carol Perkins is heard shouting, “What do you mean salt isn’t a spice!?”

Jonathan sees Robin walk in 15 minutes after the start of lunch speaking something he’s certain he doesn’t speak with… Billy Hargrove? What the hell? And from the looks of it, he understands what she’s saying and  _ responding _ . Well, now he doesn’t know what to think. It’s surprising that Billy apparently speaks a second language. It’s weird that he’s having what looks to be a  _ friendly _ conversation. And it kind of stings a little that Robin ditched him, earlier, to apparently hang out with the jerk.

The last of the list is what his idiot brain hones in on. Jonathan has always had some trouble with feeling like people are faking. Even if he knows it’s not true, it’s a conclusion his mind always jumps to. Which is exactly why he finds himself silently clinging to Nancy’s hand for dear sanity.

“Jon? Are you ok? Did you hear something?” Nancy’s voice brings him a bit out of his head- enough for him to let go and sign back.

‘Me-you-love-right?’ ASL grammar is weird like that, but she understands enough to know how to answer.

“Of course. I’m right here. I’m not leaving. I love you,” she wraps an arm around him to rub her hand up and down his upper arm. She knows he just needs to hear that as a reassurance. He swallows and nods before taking a deep breath.

“Thanks..”

“Always.”

She hugs him and they laugh as Carol gets up to ask the lunch lady something.

“Someone really should tell her that salt isn’t a spice. I fear for anyone she tries to cook for if she actually believes that,” Jonathan jokes softly, earning a chuckle from Nancy.

“I really do wonder if Tommy is ok sometimes. If not in the head, then his cholesterol levels,” she says with a false seriousness. They both know he probably thought the same as his girlfriend, but is just too stupidly hormonal to be willing to admit it.

It’s always this kind of light conversation that helps him the most. It makes him feel normal. He and Will understand each other, in that regard. Everyone used to walk on eggshells around his brother- treating him like he was gonna break. Jonathan never had many friends, so he hadn’t had that problem super often. Nancy had done it the first couple times she saw him like this, but when she saw him come out of it faster when she’d accidentally joked about something, he kept doing it.

He’s thankful for that being the way things happened. He hates talking about himself, especially if he needs help. But eventually, the two fall back into more jokes and laughter- pausing once to make sure Steve still occupied his own body.

After that lunch, he breezed through history like he’s used to and heads to the darkroom for his free period. He loves it there. The darkness is comforting and he’s learned to be comforted by the smell of the chemicals. Sure it’s a slow process, but it’s the routine of it all that he thinks makes it special. That no matter what the picture is- good, bad, clear, blurry, accidental, or premeditated- the process is always the same. It’s reassuring in a way. 

He’s able to let his mind both wander and zero in on what he’s doing. Keeping a close eye on the seconds so he can agitate the developer or sliding the finished film into sleeves. Developing a test photo or rinsing and hanging ones that are already done. It’s all mindless and focused at the same time. He loves it and the addition of the darkness just makes it that much better because he’s able to just have these moments to himself, even if there’s someone else in the room.

He goes home that day, calmer than he had been. He drops Will off with Nancy at her house and his mom is still at work. The house is his for the next couple hours so he makes himself some mac n cheese- something he could eat way more often than he would like to admit. He’s washing the dishes when the phone rings.

Cautiously picking it up, he answers with his sort of rehearsed greeting.

“Hello? Byers house.”

He hears Steve on the other line and he doesn’t sound great. He asks Jonathan for a ride home and he’s quick to get a yes. He tells Steve he can be at Benny’s in about 10 minutes, he all but speeds there, slowing at common police hideaways.

Once there, he pops the trunk so the older of the two can put his groceries in. He knows Steve has trouble with feeling like he owes everyone the world, so he’s not surprised when he offers gas money. An idea Jonathan quickly refuses, instead just making him promise to call if he ever needs help. Satisfied with Steve’s agreement, he starts the car and the drive to take him home.

They quickly decide on a game plan of dropping by Steve’s to put away groceries and then hang at his house until he needs to take Steve to get his car. They then fall into jokes and laughter, the latter being especially prevalent when they try to imagine Will using his Puppy Eyes™ on resident hardass, Billy Hargrove. Talk about unstoppable force meets immovable object.

The conversation has a natural push and pull for a while. What he doesn’t expect is for Steve to apologize for breaking his camera last year. So he meets it with one of his own. It’s something he’s been meaning to do and feels that it’s only fair since Steve practically just laid his heart on his sleeve.

He really hadn’t known he had crossed a line with those pictures of Steve and Nancy. That’s something he’s always had trouble with. It feels like there’s all sorts of red and green tape around social interactions and he’s trying to navigate it, except he’s colorblind. That’s how he’s learned to describe it, at least. That or like he’s trying to play a game he doesn’t know the rules to.

Somehow, the conversation turns to Robin after they had put the groceries away in Steve’s- apparently already unlocked- house and he offers to introduce the two of them. He’s trying not to think about the sting of what happened earlier that day, but that’s not hard. Well, not as hard as it would be if he were still home, alone and left to look through his boxes of memories or do homework.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Experiences shown in this chapter are based on mine and my friends' of ASD and the use of ASL, as they will be throughout the rest of the work.

**Author's Note:**

> (cause it's a shared account) -Jackal


End file.
